Failure is not an option

Wally_Kingsborough
Wally_Kingsborough Posts: 11
in Introduce Yourself
Hello! My name is Wally. I am 53, a husband and father. Used to be in shape "Back in The Day," but have struggled with weight for going on 20 years. In 2010 I was struck head-on when another driver missed a bend in the road and crossed the center line. The impact knocked my right hip out of join and cracked the head of the femur. After surgery and rehab I am able to us my own hip, but the orthopedics say that I will need a hip replacement some day. We want that 'some day' to be as far in the future as possible, so the weight has to come off.

Like everyone else, I've been up and down many times, but for me, this time has to be the one that counts. My main strategy will be counting calories and prohibiting refined sugar. I will rely on veggies primarily for vitamin C and such, but I am not a vegetarian.

So, day one. Here we go.

Replies

  • krhn
    krhn Posts: 781 Member
    Success is an option, but the only option! :bigsmile:
  • eileenchristine
    eileenchristine Posts: 228 Member
    Get some friends who are active here and dedicated to logging their food. I have learned so much from my friends and they are so supportive. I started out just to be a support to a friend who was struggling with his last 20 lbs (he had lost over 80 on his own). Low and behold I found I was logging daily and losing weight. Heck I even started exercising in December!

    Still struggle with the exercise part .... am not very consistent, but the logging and the moving I am doing is working. I have a bad hip too, not sure why and some of the moves give me sharp pains so I just do what I can and limit alot of the high impact stuff (but I am doing some as my friend wants me to run a 5k with her in June).

    Just taking it one day at a time.
  • lintino
    lintino Posts: 456 Member
    I have a hip that doesn't want to stay where it belongs which then affects my knees. I have been successful with counting calories. I also do water aerobics which takes the stress off the joints and allows me to move in ways that I can't do on land. I keep getting stronger which makes me happy!

    Good luck, you can make this one count!
  • Poupakf
    Poupakf Posts: 2
    Good for you. You can do this! I am a 51 year old wife and mother of two, who really started working out fiercely about three years ago. Lost about 25 pounds (didn't even think I had that much to lose!) as a result of just regularly doing cardio and weights. Six days of about an hour of intense cardio (intense elliptical or jogging uphill etc) and 20 minutes of weight training with machines in the gym, about 3 or 4 times weekly. I am not very good at counting my calories but myfitnesspal certainly makes that easier. I keep saying that going back to my state of three years ago is not an option, but I am in the middle of a transitional and high stress period in my life right now, and have been a bit off my routine for the last 3-4 months. So what i do is tell myself that just because I am not as fit as I was in January, doesn't mean that I am going back to my out of shape stage! As you said, we all have ups and downs but consistency over the long run is what matters and and we have to believe in ourselves and see ourselves as fit, fierce fighters!! Good luck to you :)
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Yup, we're here for you. This is a great place to work together to realize our healthy goals!
  • JulieAnn1109
    JulieAnn1109 Posts: 21 Member
    I was in a car accident in 1998 as well and had my hip and pelvis fractured.... as well as many more internal injuries....was told I wouldn't walk again or have kids....proved both of those NOT AN OPTION when I walked on my own with no surgery or pins....and especially after I had my fourth child in 2009! :smile:

    GOOD LUCK to you and don't give up!
  • Wally_Kingsborough
    Wally_Kingsborough Posts: 11
    It can be hard to remember that option when it seems so far away.

    not to be negative, but that's one of the aspects of my frame of mind that has to change.



    n00b: this was meant to be a quote with reply to krhn
  • Wally_Kingsborough
    Wally_Kingsborough Posts: 11
    Get some friends who are active here and dedicated to logging their food. I have learned so much from my friends and they are so supportive. I started out just to be a support to a friend who was struggling with his last 20 lbs (he had lost over 80 on his own). Low and behold I found I was logging daily and losing weight. Heck I even started exercising in December!

    Still struggle with the exercise part .... am not very consistent, but the logging and the moving I am doing is working. I have a bad hip too, not sure why and some of the moves give me sharp pains so I just do what I can and limit alot of the high impact stuff (but I am doing some as my friend wants me to run a 5k with her in June).

    Just taking it one day at a time.

    Back in the day - you'll see that phrase alot from me - I was in the gym 2.5hr/day 6days/week. I was strong. I was fit.

    not so much today.

    When I start back in the gym I won't be able to do my old routine unitl I drop quite a bit of weight. That will be the challenge - to develope and enjoyable, productive routine.
  • Wally_Kingsborough
    Wally_Kingsborough Posts: 11
    I have a hip that doesn't want to stay where it belongs which then affects my knees. I have been successful with counting calories. I also do water aerobics which takes the stress off the joints and allows me to move in ways that I can't do on land. I keep getting stronger which makes me happy!

    Good luck, you can make this one count!

    The head of orthopedics at Ben Taub was standing beside my bed explaining about the procedure to go in and puts screws in the head of my femur. He thought that it should be okay but that there was a possibility the piece broken off might not 'take'. If that piece did not take, then within 3 months I would need a hip replacement. He looked me in the eye and said, "I will not put on in at your weight."

    That made me sit up and pay attention.

    That piece did take, but the amount of soft tissue trauma around the hip is proving to be the more lasting issue. I can get around but the leg doesn't work quite right.
  • Wally_Kingsborough
    Wally_Kingsborough Posts: 11
    Good for you. You can do this! I am a 51 year old wife and mother of two, who really started working out fiercely about three years ago. Lost about 25 pounds (didn't even think I had that much to lose!) as a result of just regularly doing cardio and weights. Six days of about an hour of intense cardio (intense elliptical or jogging uphill etc) and 20 minutes of weight training with machines in the gym, about 3 or 4 times weekly. I am not very good at counting my calories but myfitnesspal certainly makes that easier. I keep saying that going back to my state of three years ago is not an option, but I am in the middle of a transitional and high stress period in my life right now, and have been a bit off my routine for the last 3-4 months. So what i do is tell myself that just because I am not as fit as I was in January, doesn't mean that I am going back to my out of shape stage! As you said, we all have ups and downs but consistency over the long run is what matters and and we have to believe in ourselves and see ourselves as fit, fierce fighters!! Good luck to you :)

    I did do a spell at the local Nautilus club last year. I found that the Nautilus circuit was good for me. I used to have a whole weight lifting routine - back in the day - but I can't do that until my cardio is back up to snuff, and I've dumped a bunch of this weight.
  • Wally_Kingsborough
    Wally_Kingsborough Posts: 11
    Yup, we're here for you. This is a great place to work together to realize our healthy goals!

    Thank you. I look forward to success.

    I'm working on bringing my wife in with me.
  • Wally_Kingsborough
    Wally_Kingsborough Posts: 11
    I was in a car accident in 1998 as well and had my hip and pelvis fractured.... as well as many more internal injuries....was told I wouldn't walk again or have kids....proved both of those NOT AN OPTION when I walked on my own with no surgery or pins....and especially after I had my fourth child in 2009! :smile:

    GOOD LUCK to you and don't give up!

    That's amazing!

    I'm 90-something percent. There's just some disfunction due to soft tissue damage around the hip joint. The only bone trauma was a spaul of bone that was knocked off the head of the femur. I'm under orders not to run, and to avoid knocking it out of joint again.

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